Authorities seize 117 dogs from Stone County home

WIGGINS — Authorities have seized 117 mixed-breed dogs from a mobile home in rural Stone County.

Chief Deputy Phyllis Olds said authorities went to the Magnolia community mobile home Tuesday after complaints from neighbors.

The owner doesn’t live at the home, Olds said.

“It’s really, really bad,” Olds told The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/11ihzhV ). “This is probably one of the worst cases I’ve seen and I’ve been doing this 13 years.”

Olds said authorities found other dogs dead, some lying in the yard and others in black trash bags outside. Still others, including some puppies, were found dead inside the home.

After a further review of animal cruelty laws, Olds said a decision was made Wednesday to charge the home’s owner, Shirley Guy, on one count of cruelty to animals and 116 counts of animal neglect, both misdemeanors.

Olds said Guy did not live at the home and kept a back door propped open so the animals could go in and out as they pleased.

Authorities found other dogs dead, some lying inside the home or in the fenced-in backyard with still others stuffed into large black garbage bags outside. Veterinarians had to euthanize one dog at the scene Tuesday and later had to euthanize another.

The seized dogs are now either housed at the Stone County Animal Shelter or Southern Pines Animal Shelter in Hattiesburg. They are receiving medical care, though Olds said some may end up being too sick to save.

She said the dogs are not immediately available for adoption because they are in the process of rehabilitating the animals, which includes treating them for various medical conditions and administering rabies shots.

Olds said neighbors reported Guy would drop off food for the dogs and leave the door to the mobile home open so they could go in and out.

A veterinarian, Dr. Kirk Frazier, said he euthanized one dog because it was in a coma with bite marks to the body.

“It’s the worst I’ve seen, and I’ve been a veterinarian for 24 years. Once they get the care they need, I feel certain most all of them should be able to be adopted.”